


Oh, you are a mess dear, but please stop trying to sell me your soul

by Absolem0



Category: Bleach
Genre: Fantasy AU, Gen, I am not a writer, I am sorry for any mistakes, M/M, Not much tho, Some characters are mentioned in passing, has art done by me, ichigo is a badass, it was spell-checked exactly once, it's a first time I've written anything longer than two paragraphs in English, non-human Ichigo, oh and there's magic, oh yeah there's some crude language, relatioship is platonic but if you squint rly hard, this was written for my own art so I'm sorry for the quality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-27 13:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19013446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Absolem0/pseuds/Absolem0
Summary: Years down the road, he felt, that his destination was close, so, so close. After all his hardships and deeds, both despicable and admirable, after all his mistakes, after everything he had done to become the man he is today.He could finally reach his goal.He could finally find him again.





	Oh, you are a mess dear, but please stop trying to sell me your soul

**Author's Note:**

> This AU was born after I've finished the art, so you can say I inspired myself to do this.

“Make a deal with me.”

Sudden request, made the young-looking man do a double take. He rapidly turned to the side, where the voice came from.

_“Excuse me?!”_

“Make a deal with me.”

His eyes fell on an awfully short figure, that stood there, demandingly staring at him. Young man’s brain short circuited for a few minutes, after he saw, who was asking this of him.

“Uh. Look… kid. I’m not, you, uh, know… you, you came to the wrong address with this.”

The child in front of him, frail-looking and pale, owlishly blinked at him and slowly tilted his head, as if disbelievingly. “You can’t?”

“Well, considering that I’m not a demon, no, I can’t,” the man answered in a choked voice.

He has been peacefully minding his own business, since the moment he came here, and this situation was a bit ridiculous in his ranking of shit, that happened to him all the time.

“Are you sure that you’re not a demon?” What. The Hell.

“The last time I checked, I definitely wasn’t one.”

This earned him a very suspicious and thorough look over by this midget.

How old was even this child? Hunched and a bit on a thin side, which made him look smaller, so he would give him maybe seven or eight then? He looked too young to be here all by himself. Weren’t parents supposed to constantly supervise children of this age? It’s been quite some time, since he’d visited human realm, but their traditions sure weren’t supposed to change so drastically.

“But you look like one,” was the thoughtful verdict, given to him, after a few minutes.

What, in the name of nine realms, was _wrong with this kid_?

“Rude,” he tried not to scoff, but hey, you can’t blame him for being offended. “You won’t make a lot of friends, if you talk to people like this.”

He sighed, turning away with the clear intention of leaving. Losing his temper over a few words from a small child was so not worth it. “Go home boy, you shouldn’t be alone out here.”

“Wait!” said boy rushed after departing figure.

Empty space on the spot, where the man was standing just a few moments ago, was all that he got in reply.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Make a deal with me.”

This was not funny.

Red haired man exasperatedly pinched the bridge of his nose, as he felt small hands grabbing his robes from behind, preventing him from going away. Brat quickly learnt, that he won’t use any kind of force on him, and was shamelessly using this fact to cling to him, leaving him with no choice but to stay in one place, for the time being.

It’s been weeks, but the menace in disguise of a child, was able to track him down every single time he came into the area. This one would make one hell of a mage, when he grows up, with such keen spiritual senses, but right now he was a pain to deal with. Especially with that ridiculous request.

The demand hasn’t been changed even one bit through the times he ‘met’ this child, which made him want to run in circles. Human children were confusing. And very, very rude.

Most of their meetings went by the same scenario, with kid seriously demanding a ‘deal’ with him, using slightly different formulations, and even adding a few threats, the nerve! and not believing, that he’s not a demon, no matter how many times he tried to persuade him. Red haired man opted to retreat apprehensively after a few times (damn, he wasn’t running away!), shamelessly using his abilities, but kid still managed to hunt him down, catching him by surprise and robes each time.

It was a bit insulting - after all he was a high ranker, considered quite strong and fast among his kind. And he’s been continuously bested by a mere kid. Goat-face would throw a fit, if this somehow made its way to him.

Sometimes… sometimes kid came to him silent, with eyes somewhere far away, not seeing him for real. Dull, lifeless, and very lonely. When he would see a small figure, hunched even more than usual, slowly but purposefully dragging his feet to him, the man would wait until kid almost fell down on some grass spot, and would sit down, not far from the kid, but not too close too, offering silent company of another living soul, hoping that it will give some sort of comfort to him.

He felt, that the boy continued coming to him out of habit, on those days.

He didn’t like those times.

But today was the end of his remaining in human realm. He’s already spent more time to finish his rounds here, than he should, taking sweet time to relax and look around, admiring how things has changed since his last visit here. It was always a joy to him, to go to this plane, even if quite costly.

Sadly, there was no more prolonging his stay. But…

He looked down at the small leech, that took his clothes captive. He warmed up a lot to boy’s presence and grew to be actually curious about him and his reasons. He hasn’t forgotten the rules for his kind, when they visited this realm unbound, but, damn, it’s not every day, that you meet a child this young looking for a _demon_ of all things.

Kid lifted his head, feeling inquiring gaze, and realizing, that he wasn’t being chased away as usual, with a fake scowl, that stopped scaring him after a few days’ worth of time. Maybe he still could hope?

“Make a deal with me,” he almost whispered, fists squeezing cloth tighter. He hesitated and added in an unexpectedly vulnerable for him tone, “Please.”

_Please, please, no one is listening, no one ever listens, the truth is laid bare for nothing before their blind, greedy eyes, I don’t know what to do anymore, I don’t know whom to ask anymore, please._

Young man, subjected to this pleading, broken cry for help, was feeling his walls caving in. He squinted his eyes shut, - he had two sisters, whom he raised and protected for years, until they grew up to be strong and beautiful, leaving home to build their own lives, and he felt his heartstrings being pulled at in an almost forgotten way.

He sighed dejectedly. This will definitely come back later to bite him in the ass.

“I’m pretty sure, that it’s not how you should make a deal with a demon,” he carefully put his hand on top of blond head, slightly ruffling kid’s hair, “I’ve heard there must be, at least, a magic circle, with chantings and soul offerings.”

“I can do this!” child’s eyes lit up, his meek and vulnerable appearance instantly merging into one of determination, “Wait here, I’ll be back!”

“Kid, kid, stop!” young man caught already running boy by the scruff of a shirt, no different of how one picks an unruly kitten, growling out words, laced with frustration, “I’ve told you, - multiple times, – I am _not_ a demon!”

He raised the boy to his eye level, shaking him lightly a few times for emphasis, hoping that it will knock some sense into that dense head. He had done the same to Karin, while she was still small, those few times, when she got him worried sick with her dangerous stunts, biting more than she could chew, leading troubles home. He absentmindedly noticed, that brat was definitely too light for a kid of his age.

But he instantly regretted doing things rashly - child hanging in his arm went unnaturally still, pulling up his legs and covering his head with hands, elbows tucked close to the chest - trying to appear smaller, protecting vital parts of the body. He felt his breath hitching half way in. These were definitely done from experience and countless repetitions, with a knowledge of where it hurts less, when hit, which parts can be sacrificed for later well-being.

Knowledge, which, in his opinion, a child should not have.

_God, he was such an asshole._

He gently put frozen child down on the grass, then haltingly taking a few steps back, as if burned, to give him some space, and crouched down to be on the same level as frightened kid. Hoping to look less threatening, less crowding. Strange, not-quite-purr reverberated in his throat, the one that was used for their children, in times of distress, _reassuring, calming, don’t be afraid child, I am here_.

He wasn’t sure if its implication would be caught by a human kid, but, in the end, some languages are known to all.

After a few minutes of no movement from both of them, small arms were reluctantly lowered, revealing guarded look in grey eyes. Seeing the other man just simply sitting there, waiting, _waiting for what?_ the boy relaxed a bit more, breathing out his minute terror from frozen lungs. He could hardly hear anything over blood rushing in his ears, except for some weird sound? it was nice, like a big cat’s. He was sure, just a moment ago, that the other had finally snapped, after constant nagging from him, and was waiting for his well-deserved punishment. He learnt first-handedly, that you can’t tease a tiger and not expect to be stricken in return.

But it didn’t come.

This, this _being_ , was looking straight at him, not turning away in disgust, even lowering himself so far as to sink down on his knees, to be on the same level as him.

He was finally able to fully see man’s face, without shadows from the skull of some horrific beast on top of his head obscuring it, and, and his eyes, _they were so kind_.

Something warm lit up inside his chest again, somewhere, in a very, very deep part, which he didn’t know how to name. He liked this warmth.

Red haired man softly smiled at him, “Let’s try it one more time, okay?”

After getting tentative nod in return he continued in the same light tone, “How about we start with how polite, civilized people do this, m? What is your name?”

“… Kisuke.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kisuke,” he’s clearly seen, that the child, _Kisuke_ , was puzzled by his actions and words. Like he was never given such basic courtesy, basic kindness before. He could feel his blood boiling with resentment towards people who crippled this child so much. He smoothed his features to not let any of his struggles be shown on his face, and readily offered in return, “You can call me Ichigo.”

“So, can you tell me why do you want a deal so badly?” he finally gave in and asked a question, that was itching under his skin all these weeks.

Hearing this, the boy took a deep breath, revealing steel in his gaze, when he looked straight into older man’s eyes, expression turning grim and bitter - alien look on a child, “I want to pay back some people. You can do this, right?”

Ichigo stopped himself from snarling – he’s already felt his teeth itching, now giving place to sharper ones. He’d guessed that he would hear something like this, but getting confirmation set his insides ablaze with fury. _This is just a child, for Niren’s sake, how cruel could you be to a defenseless kid_.

He still asked, trying not to show too many of razor-like teeth, “Why?”

“They hurt me. They hurt me a lot,” People weren’t kind to Kisuke, they were always angry with him, rough and merciless, they pushed him around, and hit him, and _touched_ him. “I want to hurt them back.”

His face twitched with some emotion passing so quickly, that Ichigo wasn’t able to pinpoint it. Lips settling into firm line, before quiet confession:

“I want them dead.”

Eerie silence filled the space after this. Minutes sluggishly ticked by, without really noticing from both sides. Until man finally closed his eyes, regretfully.

“Sorry kid, this I cannot do.”

Kisuke felt those words crushing down on him with the unyielding force of bitter reality. It hurt so much more than being hit. It hurt more than it ever had in his life. After having his hopes up, _why, why, why, why_.

“Why?” child surged forward, crossing what small distance there was separating them without really noticing, grabbing other’s arm in anguish and desperation, digging his nails into tanned skin, “Why can’t you?! Why? Is payment too small for you? Aren’t you supposed to fulfil any wish, as long as you get a soul? Or is it _my soul_ , that you don’t want?!” there was something wet on his cheeks, his voice was coming out pathetic and wobbly, angry words scratching on his tongue and throat.

The man wasn’t pushing him away, looking at him in apology with a sad half-smile, and some tenderness on his face.

Kisuke tried to blink away his tears, that just kept falling down, obscuring the view. Why was he looking at him like this? Why was he…? Oh.

“You are… You are not a demon,” was quietly said with some bitter finality to it, accepting the truth after all those times he was told it. His heart sank down. He deluded himself into thinking, that this man was a demon from old tales, after seeing how otherworldly he looks, how out of place he felt on streets of the city. Trusting, that those scoldings said to him, were just to drive him, unkempt, measly child, off, but he was relentlessly chasing the man day after day.

His stomach felt heavy.

This man wasn’t a demon.

But he wasn’t a _human_ too.

He lifted his head, glancing at the other from under his hair. Ichigo was still looking at him and instantly noticed this. Seeing him somewhat paying attention again, red haired man slowly lifted his right arm to gently pry his small hands, still angrily clutching his other limb, away, which he didn’t notice he was still doing. Kisuke hurriedly retracted arms to his knees, in some kind of embarrassment.

Ichigo felt his heart bleeding for this kid, so hurt and desperate, _but_... “There are rules set in place for my kind, when I visit human world, which I cannot break.”

The boy in front of him bit his lip, a flow of tears lessening, but not stopping “I am… I am sorry. For pestering you. And for all of this. This mess.”

He dismissively hummed under his breath in reply, considering something likely, probably, ~~_definitely_~~ , very stupid. Uryuu will skin him alive for this idea later. But it could actually work.

“Now, Kisuke,” rules, laws, everything had a loop of some sorts, and he wanted to help this child so badly, “I may not be a demon, but I can still offer you, mmm, a trade of sorts.”

“A trade?”

“Yes. I can’t kill them, but,” he held a pause deviously, making boy unconsciously lean closer, with anticipation, “I can make them very, _very_ afraid. How does it sound?”

Child appeared to be thoughtfully mulling over this offer.

Kisuke thought that it sounded, strange. How making someone afraid will help him to get rid of them? But now, now he didn’t have many choices to be so picky, didn’t he?

“What do you want in return?” Ichigo shrugged, secretly satisfied with the question. So the child was smart in the end.

“Anything you will want to give me in the future will be fine, well, except for your soul” he lightly laughed at the instantly crumbled expression. “As you know now, I don’t function on this kind of stuff.”

“Will they leave me alone after this?” _hesitant, careful, wistful_.

He smiled sharply.

“Oh, definitely.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

_“Did you hear the latest news?”_

_“Hm? Oh, about the ******?”_

_“Yeah. Wild, right? I feel goosebumps, every time I think about it.”_

_“Is it true then? About that headline? “Temporary assigning patients to the mental ward, for the duration of the investigation?”_

_“Pff, temporary? Most of those people were reduced to mindless, mumbling, hallucinating messes with the diagnosis of ‘severe paranoia’. Some of them are moneybags and their families tried to confine them at home, keeping everything under wraps. They brought best doctors to them, and even some big name healer got dragged into this after some serious accident, when everything started leaking to the press. But, well, nobody succeeded so far.”_

_“Wow. But did they find the reason? I’ve heard there’re a lot of affected, with similar cases.”_

_“Only speculations. They say what was done to them, was done by something from the other side.”_

_“Other…? No way, a demon?”_

_“Nope, not a drop of demonic energy found. Demonologists were running up the walls - such potent spell, there are not many that could do it. But in the end they were forced to look elsewhere.”_

_“Was it a mage then? A spell casted by someone?”_

_“Overall it looks like a spell, but it doesn’t behave like one, something about different energy source? Or type of energy? You know I’m not very good with this stuff.”_

_“Aren’t there people who lift spells for living? What’s the problem with hiring one?”_

_“They did, they did. But the caster’s level was so high, that no one can match it. You know the rule – the amount of force to break the spell should be no less than the amount used to cast the spell.”_

_“Oho, looks like they crossed roads with the wrong person.”_

_“I’m not even sorry for them, you know? People are digging up all the filth about them right now. There’s so much of… ugh. I don’t even want to talk about this.”_

_“Mhm. But where will they find someone to break the spell? There aren’t many powerhouses in our country.”_

_“Who knows. Maybe specialists from abroad, but they usually don’t have much time to deal with such small things.”_

_“Yeah. Though, where are the money, there is a solution.”_

_“True. But… there are some rumors.”_

_“Oh? What’s it?”_

_“They are not confirmed, and authorities are denying everything, as usual, buuuut…”_

_“Come on don’t drag cat’s…!”_

_“Okay, okay! So there’s a rumor going around, that it was done by a divine beast.”_

_“A divine beast!”_

_“Shhh, don’t shout. But yeah, and, considering the power behind the curse, one of the highest bloodline and level.”_

_“Holy… wow. I’ve never even seen one.”_

_“Ha! What would big shots, capable of contracting one, do in our shithole?”_

_“You’re right. Though this sounds too wild, man.”_

_“Yeah, but there’s someone, who dug up info, that all mages with bound beasts, falling under this category, were thoroughly checked, but to no avail. Which only leaves the possibility of an unbound one, and considering the strength…”_

_“Huh. Even if there’s not much truth in this, which I still highly doubt for the matter of speaking, I don’t think they’ll try to go with charges to them. Technically speaking, no one is dead, so no law broken. And while overall you can see magical intrusion into mental state in all of them, all diagnoses wary quite a lot from one to another.”_

_“Meh, you and your technicalities, man. However, I don’t think anybody will be able to break the spell.”_

_“Well, **I** think, that there aren’t a lot of people willing to, in the first place.”_

.

.

.

Kisuke slowly closed his eyes, tuning out the rest of the chatter, which didn’t hold anything useful after that.

He still wasn’t able to comprehend, believe, that all of this was real and not some part of a fever-induced dream. Could he trust his own mind? All those weeks, almost months, they did happen in reality, right?

He didn’t hallucinate that man, that showed him nothing, but patience and kindness, even while being rough around the edges? The one, that paid attention and gratuitously offered his silent company on bad days for Kisuke? For the first time in ten years of his life, he’d felt, as if someone was listening to him, to his silent thoughts, not judging, not trying to pry him open, but steadily supporting with warm presence.

_He missed him._

Divine beast. This was the most possible case. He remembered Ichigo, as clear as if he were right before his eyes. That appearance, that power, couldn’t belong to someone of a lesser caliber.

From that fateful day, Kisuke wasn’t able to find him anywhere, no matter how long he searched, how long he waited at the place they last parted their ways on. He regretted not being given a chance to say ‘thank you’.

_Thank you for being this kind, thank you for caring, for giving me a hand, even if you didn’t get anything in return, thank you for believing me, for acting where no one did, thank you so, so much._

He slowly exhaled, setting his mind on a piece of information, that caught his attention previously.

_A mage, right?_

He felt gears of thoughts rapidly turning in his head, starting the construction of a path with a solid goal at the end. He knew, what he needed to do.

He _will_ find him again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Years down the road, he felt, that his destination was close, so, so close. After all his hardships and deeds, both despicable and admirable, after all his mistakes, after everything he had done to become the man he is today.

A genius.

Strongest mage of three generations, crossing a line of immortality, on a par with timeless legends.

An innovator, a scientist, a high ranker, known to the whole world, a _deceiver, a liar, a backstabber, greedy, greedy, greedy, look at yourself Kisuke, will it be worth it in the end_.

_Yes, yes, yes, yes._

Air was getting heavy, sluggish, almost reluctantly filling his lungs. Pure energy was pressing down on him, testing and probing for a weakness in defenses. He continued going up and up, to the very top of the peak, without any care in the world. It was just one more thing to overcome.

Leaving, those that crossed him, fallen behind, painting ground red, but still alive - he was not here to kill, to trap, but this was a challenge, a task needed to be fulfilled.

“ _That realm is dangerous - if you’re not strong enough, you’ll get eaten faster, then I can throw my mug at your irritating face, dumbass.”_

_“Ah please, Yoruichi-san, the world won’t survive the loss of my very handsome face.”_

_“Brat. Listen closely. They have their set of rules. If you want to succeed in what you want to do, you’ll need to follow them through and through, so no shortcuts, no scheming or trying to cheat, you understand?”_

_“Of course.”_

_“I am wishing you best of luck with this Kisuke. But be… be careful out there, okay?”_

A way to this realm _. (costly, 12.000 crystal shards of highest grade, amount worth more than a few lesser countries combined, together with their citizens, and a traveler’s energy enough to not get lost in-between, with excellent control over it, for even a small flaw will get you ripped apart.)_

Trial by power _. (you can’t even dream of doing this, if you were too weak to stand in one’s full presence.)_

A hundred beasts, defeated by his hand _. (he gleefully choose the strongest and the sturdiest, to proudly present those victories in the end.)_

“Who are you and what are you doing here? State your business.” Harsh voice pulled him out of his musings. His eyes caught a sight of lean human silhouette shrouded in shadows. This meant, that this beast crossed the level needed for shapeshifting. He’s met only a handful of such beasts through his life, and not a single one here so far. This might just get interesting.

Darkness fell, like a smoke blown away by a gust of wind, revealing hidden features.

He could feel his pulse speeding up.

 _Six-winged Aether Dragon_.

_A king of the mountain._

Half into transformation, looking deadly and lethal, with sharp talons dangerously glinting in dim light, effortlessly digging into stone beneath, and magnificent black wings unfurling on his back, laced with vivid red energy.

But there was no hostility in his pose, threads of power surging through the place, almost latching onto the skin of the mage, but not harmful. Something knowing was flashing though his eyes, while he simply stood there, patiently waiting.

It wasn’t possible for him not to know, why Kisuke was here, with all the commotion, that he caused on the way up here.

He slowly pulled out his token for the other to judge.

_“Anything you will want to give me in the future will be fine.”_

_Ichigo_ looked at him with a gaze full of mirth, after observing his long-overdue payment.

A pair of summoner’s contract bracelets of highest quality were carefully presented on his open palms, - metal carved with runes by his own hands, filled to the brim with crackling golden energy.

.

.

.

He could feel a genuine smile appear on his face.

.

.

.

“Make a deal with me.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ichigo readily reached out.

* * *

 

 ..

**Author's Note:**

> Small Kisuke lifting his head "Mr. Demon?"  
> Ichigo, with tears in his eyes, "do I LOoK LiKe "
> 
> \- Kisuke was actually ten, but he was greatly malnurished and negleted at that point of time, so Ichigo didn't guess his age right.  
> \- World is divided in defferent realms: human, demonic, divine beasts etc.  
> \- When divine beasts go into human realm, their power is sealed for the most part and there are shit ton of rules they need to follow, to not get killed.  
> \- Divine beasts are usually summoned by a mage. But the strongest ones, the 'kings', have special conditions - they cannot be summoned so easily, you need to go get them yourself. Ichigo is one of those. So Kisuke barged uninvited into beasts realm and started wrecking chaos.  
> \- Of course not everyone can simply waltz in there. You need to be above a certain level and have great financial support to even attempt this, that's why Kisuke took so long to do this.


End file.
